Various procedures for fixing or replacing defective heart valves are known in the art. Some examples of replacement valves and procedures are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,329,279 and US Publication Number 2005/0143809, which are herein incorporated by reference.
Types of percutaneously implanted replacement heart valves are inserted via a catheter. Upon deployment from the catheter, the replacement heart valve is expanded. While inside the catheter, however, it is desirable for the replacement heart valve to take on a reduced profile. Additionally, it is desirable for that reduced profile to be as reasonably small as is possible. The larger the profile of the replacement hear valve, the larger the catheter that will be required to house the replacement heart valve. Further, a smaller profile catheter helps to minimize the risk of damage to the body lumen through which the catheter is inserted.
Consequently, there remains a need for a replacement heart valve that has a reduced profile when in an unexpanded configuration. Additionally, the reduced profile replacement heart valve must retain the requisite strength to expand and reliably function.
The art referred to and/or described above is not intended to constitute an admission that any patent, publication or other information referred to herein is “prior art” with respect to this invention. In addition, this section should not be construed to mean that a search has been made or that no other pertinent information as defined in 37 C.F.R. §1.56(a) exists.
All US patents and applications and all other published documents mentioned anywhere in this application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Without limiting the scope of the invention a brief summary of some of the claimed embodiments of the invention is set forth below. Additional details of the summarized embodiments of the invention and/or additional embodiments of the invention may be found in the Detailed Description of the Invention below.